3.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
• Measure -> people’s ability in language
• Regardless of any training
• Not based on content or objectives of lang. courses
• Based on -> specification of what to be able to do
?
PROFICIENT

4.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
• Measure -> people’s ability in language
• Regardless of any training
• Not based on content or objectives of lang. courses
• Based on -> specification of what to be able to do
• Having sufficient command
of the language for a
particular purpose
PROFICIENT

5.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
• Measure -> people’s ability in language
• Regardless of any training
• Not based on content or objectives of lang. courses
• Based on -> specification of what to be able to do
• E.g. whether someone can
function successfully as a
UN translator.
PROFICIENT

6.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
• Measure -> people’s ability in language
• Regardless of any training
• Not based on content or objectives of lang. courses
• Based on -> specification of what to be able to do
• Standard with respect to a
set of abilities
• No particular purpose for
the language
General
PROFICIENT

7.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
• Measure -> people’s ability in language
• Regardless of any training
• Not based on content or objectives of lang. courses
• Based on -> specification of what to be able to do
• E.g. TOEFL, FCE, etc.
General
PROFICIENT

8.
PROFICIENCY TESTS
Not based
on courses
that
candidates
may have
taken
previously

10.
FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
• At the end of the course of study
• Content related to the course

11.
FINAL ACHIEVEMENT TESTS
• At the end of the course of study
?
• Content related to the course
Syllabus-content approach
What if the syllabus was
badly designed?
Base it on the objectives
• Compels course designers to
be explicit about objectives
• Performance on the test ->
how far objectives have been
achieved

16.
DIRECT VS INDIRECT TESTING
Direct
Indirect
• Clear about the abilities to
assess
• Easier to construct
• Test a sample of a finite
number of abilities which
underlie an indefinite number
of manifestations of them

17.
DIRECT VS INDIRECT TESTING
Direct
Indirect
•Clear about the
abilities to assess
•Easier to construct
•Results are more
generalisable

18.
DISCRETE POINT VS INTEGRATIVE TESTING
Discrete
Point
Integrative
• Testing one element
at a time – item by
item
• Combination of many
elements in the
completion of a task

20.
NORM-REFERENCED VS CRITERIONREFERENCED TESTING
NORMREFERENCED
• Relates Ss’ performance to that
of other Ss
• Does not tell what the Ss are
able to do
CRITERIONREFERENCED
• Shows what the Ss can actually
do
• Does not compare to other Ss’
performance

21.
NORM-REFERENCED VS CRITERIONREFERENCED
NORMREFERENCED
CRITERIONREFERENCED
• e.g. The S is in the top 10% of
Ss who took the test.
• e.g. The S is able to greet, to
exchange information on
personal background, home,
school life and interests